International criminal gangs are operating among Asian and other immigrant communities in Britain, costing the nation 22 billion pounds a year, a senior Scotland Yard officer says.

"I have been talking very tough in the south Asian community," Assistant Commissioner Tarique Ghaffur said in controversial remarks published Sunday.

"Every indicator is showing an updward trend (in criminal activity)," he warned.

Ghaffur, an immigrant from Uganda, told The Observer newspaper that criminals from Eastern Europe and south Asia were systematically abusing the immigration system to operate illegal businesses, including people trafficking, prostitution, drugs and counterfeiting.

"Boy soldiers from Sri Lanka can get into extreme violence," he said, citing an instance. "That is very difficult to police."

The police officer's remarks come after a general election in which Britain's immigration and asylum system was the main topic of debate.

Opposition Tory Party leader Michael Howard was criticised by Prime Minister Tony Blair and others for making illegal immigration the main thrust of his election campaign.

Reacting to Ghaffur's comments, a spokeswoman for NGO Refugee Council said Home Office figures showed that refugees and asylum seekers were more likely to be victims than perpetrators of crime.

They were no more likely to commit crimes than any other group in society.

The police officer said criminals often hid behind innocent-looking shop-fronts.

"The growth of cafes, beauty parlours, car washes, sex shops, tanning salons and nail parlours is unregulated and economic migrants are being trafficked in to do this work."

At least 10 Sri Lankan Tamils have been murdered in Britain in the past five years - almost all of them political refugees, the newspaper said.

Gang rivalry too is common among Sri Lankans. One victim, a teenager, was made to buy his killers a meal before being beaten to death, doused in petrol and set alight.

--Indo-Asian News Service